


Daredevil Season 03 E08

by VeryMildSuperPowers



Series: Season 3 [9]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 16:41:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7809418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeryMildSuperPowers/pseuds/VeryMildSuperPowers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Madame Gao has some surprises in store for Matt and T'Challa.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Daredevil Season 03 E08

Although last year Madame Gao had implied to Daredevil that she had never left New York City, it wasn’t true. She had indeed returned to her homeland to report on Nobu and his most recent activities. 

Approaching her 200th year, she would not be around for another twenty years. Ten, fifteen maybe. She would have to train a new operative to take over the planet Earth mission. Even with Nobu gone, the Hand was still active and a new leader would rise. Or Nobu would rise again.

A sixteen-hour flight, then via Hong Kong she was safely back on Chinese soil. She was in no particular rush and decided to spend some time sightseeing, meditating and resting, simply enjoying her surroundings. Visiting temples and markets, tea rooms and scenic lookouts. Always travelling by the slowest means possible until she reached her destination. With one major diversion.

The pyramid was poorly concealed as a hill. Straight, neat rows of trees had been planted, the unnatural symmetry a clear indication of their artificial propagation. This was one of the ancient portals, no longer functioning. All it’s treasures removed, now just an empty shell of what it once was, in the middle of a farmer’s field in a remote village. One of many scattered throughout the Chinese countryside, constructed long before any of her kind had been to this planet. She visited out of curiosity, marveling at what remained.

Madame Goa was not a typical example of her kind. She was exceptional. Their shape-shifting abilities were only applicable to their muscles, restricting their size and general appearance. She was able to also manipulate her skeleton, freeing her from these limitations. It was for this reason she had been chosen for the Earth mission. Not because she had a tactical advantage, but because she made the others nervous. They were always jealous and suspicious and simply couldn’t be sure where she was. The safest option was to send her far, far away, to an isolated little planet of no great importance.

The time she had spent on Earth had endeared the planet to her. Whatever Nobu was up to, his actions on behalf of the Kree would not be good news, she was sure of that. It would be a shame to see them cause damage and destruction to this little world.

The final leg of her journey on Earth was to the Forbidden City. When the newly-formed government of the Republic of China had taken possession of the City from Emperor Puyi in 1912, they had also taken over guardianship of the secret chamber hidden underground, not shown on any plans. She and others of her kind were granted unquestioned access, and as usual she had been greeted warmly and with reverence upon her arrival, which, she knew, would be reported immediately to Madame Laoban, permanently based here to monitor activity.

Her ship cloaked and departed, it’s heading, the naturally-occurring warp-space access point located just outside the Solar System. Her trajectory took her past Neptune, some of it’s it’s 14 moons clearly visible. A truly breathtaking sight.

Once at warp speed the journey took only hours, all the way to a different galaxy. Her homeland.

Due to the recent deaths of all members of the ruling family, the Empire was somewhat chaotic. No-one had been assigned as her replacement, and the Hand’s mysterious behavior was of no interest to those intent on managing the Empire locally. Earth was currently of no significance. Even when she pleaded her case that the Kree must ultimately be involved, she received no support. Her journey had been a waste of time. Dejected, she returned to Earth. She was on her own.

At least she had Daredevil to keep her entertained. 

 

Karen leaned against the counter, watching Matt cook bacon and eggs. She had showered and dressed, ready for work. He was planning a day in the stealth suit to go looking for Madame Gao. 

They were both still smiling about the night before. They had almost finished breakfast when Matt’s suit beeped. Incoming message. He put the mask on, and was immediately connected to T’Challa.

“Are you busy, Matthew?”

“No, not right now. Plans for later, but that can change.”

“Are you busy for the rest of the week?”

“The rest of the week?” Matt faced Karen’s way. She indicated her assent to whatever T”Challa was asking of him. “No, I can be free. What do you need?”

“What I need is for you to get into the plane as soon as is practical. It has been instructed to fly you here. To Wakanda.”

“Wakanda? Today? Now?”

“Is that a problem?”

“No, no, that’s fine. I’ll be ready in a minute.”

“I’ll see you soon, Matthew.”

Matt looked over to Karen, taking the mask off. This was so sudden. “You’ll be okay? Right?” He reached for her and she stepped into his arms.

She nodded. “I’ll be fine, Matt. Work to do, I’ll catch up on it. Keep myself busy. But I will miss you.” She hugged him tightly, her arms around his neck, his around her waist.

“You too.” he whispered, pulling slowly back. His hand drifted to her throat. His lips closed in on hers, and he showed her just how much he would be missing her.

As they parted, she inhaled deeply. He had everything she had to give. Up the stairs, out the door and he was gone.

Traveling supersonicaly, the flight across the Atlantic Ocean and over the African continent took a couple of hours . The plane landed, and Matt stepped out on the other side of the world. An attractive young woman approached him.

“Mr Murdock? Please, come this way.”

“Hi. I’m Matt.” 

She nodded shyly. “Please come this way, King T’Challa has made preparations for you.”

Matt balked. His dealings with T’Challa had always been informal, and he suddenly realized he was now within the boundaries of T’Challa’s kingdom.

The woman escorted him to an elevator and they stepped in together. Up a few levels, the doors opened and they stepped out. “Straight through.“ she said, indicating forward. "Thank you.” Said Matt. With another shy smile, she dropped her eyes, and stepped back into the elevator. The doors closed.

Before proceeding into the room Matt detected an unusual heartbeat, very slow, coming from a different room off to the side. Curiosity got the better of him. He entered the room and found the suspended Bucky.

T’Challa walked in behind him. “I see you have met our temporary resident.“

“Resident? Who is he? Why is he here? Like this?”

“This is James Barnes, the Winter Soldier. Until his conditioning can be broken he must remain so. He is more weapon than man, and it is far too easy for those with nefarious intent to take advantage of him.”

“Conditioning?”

“He has been programmed by Hydra to fall under the command of whomever speaks a precise set of trigger words. He then obeys their instructions until he re-enters suspension. We have thus far been unable to reverse the procedure, and so he remains as you see him now.”

Matt queried “Can he be commanded to abandon the conditioning? After he’s been activated?”

T’Challa considered it. “I wonder… “

 

The transport bay doors opened, and Steve marched down the corridor to the situation room. 

T’Challa introduced them. “Steve Rogers, Matthew Murdock.” Matt stepped forward and they shook hands. Steve looked closely at Matt’s eyes. 

“Just Matt. And yes, I’m blind.”

“But don’t let it fool you. Matt has particular abilities, more impressive than I’ve seen on anyone else.” T’Challa interjected.

Steve nodded. He trusted T’Challa’s opinion. “Still no problems since his surgery?”

“The new arm is fully functional. No signs of rejection. As expected.” answered T’Challa.

Steve addressed both T’Challa and Matt. “You think we can get Bucky back just by telling him the mission is over?” 

“He is a soldier. If he is supposed to obey everything he’s instructed, we might be able to command him to do so.” replied Matt.

“I should be the one.” said Steve.

The medical team started to prepare for Bucky’s awakening.

 

Bucky came to. He looked down at his new arm, superficially indistinguishable from the rest of him, but much stronger. He wriggled his fingers and smiled in delight, but when he raised his head and saw the look on Steve’s face his smile quickly faded. Standing behind Steve were Black Panther and Daredevil.

“Longing.” Bucky looked horrified. He couldn’t believe Steve would do this to him.

“Steve, no.” he said, his face crinkled in pain.

“Rusted.” Steve’s voice cracked a little.

“Seventeen.” Bucky dropped his head to his chest. He knew he couldn’t stop what was coming.

“Furnace.” Bucky growled, becoming angry.

“Nine.”

“No. Stop.” He struggled in vain against his restraints.

“Benign.”

He roared in anger, his fury building.

“Homecoming.” Steve’s brow furrowed with concern.

“One.” Nearly there.

“Freight Car.”

Suddenly, he becalmed. His eyes glazed over, and Bucky was gone. The Winter Soldier had arrived.

Steve prepared himself for the next step, standing to attention. “Soldier.”

“Ready to comply” was the dull response.

“Stand down, soldier. Mission complete. All missions complete.” Steve relaxed his stance.

The Winter Soldier looked confused. “Missions complete?”

Steve nodded and repeated “Missions complete.”

“But I am here for the next mission. Next mission, Sir.” 

“No further missions. You are no longer to comply. The Winter Soldier is retired.”

“There must be a next mission.” he said through gritted teeth. “I cannot comply unless there is a next mission.”

“The war is over. There are no more missions. For anyone. Your mission is to no longer comply.”

His jaw set stubbornly, he made direct eye contact with Steve. He snarled “Next mission, Sir!”

Steve stepped back. “This isn’t working. Any ideas?”

Shaking his head, Black Panther said sadly “We may simply have to put him back under.” Upon hearing those words, the Winter Soldier struggled mightily and burst free of his restraints. Taking Steve by surprise he executed a double-footed jump kick, striking him in the chest and driving him back. Daredevil and Black Panther dove to catch him as he fell. Daredevil then sprang up to engage the Winter Soldier, preventing his escape. He was joined by Black Panther, followed quickly by Steve,

Cornered, he threw himself through a window and escaped into the jungle. Steve and Daredevil began to give chase, but Black Panther said “Wait. No need to follow him, we can track him from here. He can’t get far, it’s all jungle out there for miles.”

“Which means, he’ll probably circle around and try to break back in. Steal a vehicle. The transport bay.” said Daredevil. They all took off at a run.

Entering the bay, they spread out, Daredevil taking the far side. His instincts turned out to be correct – he spotted the Winter Soldier attempting to sneak back inside. Daredevil let him get far enough for the perfect ambush, then dropped onto him.

Daredevil didn’t go for a kill shot, or even a knock-out blow, he just needed to keep him busy until the others arrived and they could subdue him together. They traded blow-for-blow, until Steve turned up from the other side, forcing the Winter Soldier to defend two sides. When the Black Panther joined them he waited for the right moment to tackle from the front, taking him down. The others leapt to restrain him, and once again they had him under control. A doctor stepped in to inject him, and he passed out.

Sedated, he was wheeled away on a gurney. Daredevil checked him as he passed, satisfied that he was indeed unconscious. Preparations were being made to place him back into suspension.

That hadn’t worked. Damn.

 

In the busy control room of the highly-secured facility, T’Challa, and Matt brought Steve up to speed about the Hand and their activities.

“And you have no idea what these holes might be for?”

“Open to any suggestions.” said Matt.

“My other contacts have conducted their own surveys. Paris, Berlin. London, Mumbai, Tokyo –almost everywhere we look, they are digging these holes.”

“We need to track down this Nobu guy. You haven’t seen him for weeks now?”

Matt shook his head. “We don’t know where he is. I can try to connect with an old contact who might have some new intel, but there is someone else who might be able to help. She’s been conducting her own investigation.”

“Matt. Surely you don’t want to get Karen involved?” said T’Challa.

“Not Karen. Madame Gao. She’s been investigating Nobu and the Hand for years. She’s bound to have useful information.”

“Who’s Madame Gao?” asked Steve.

“We don’t know exactly, but she must be some kind of alien. She can change shape and copy other people. She’s been running a heroin ring out of Hell’s Kitchen for years, but the more I think about it that’s probably just a cover. She’s interested in Nobu. I don’t know, maybe she’d be willing to tell us what she knows. We’d just have to track her down first.”

One of T’Challa’s employees suddenly morphed into Madame Gao.

“You are indeed correct, Matthew. I had to become a criminal in order to deal with Nobu, to avoid raising his suspicions. And yes, I have been observing him for years. Decades, in fact.”

They collectively gasped. How did she get here? How had she infiltrated this far? T’Challa especially looked aghast as his guards scrambled to surround her.

“I am one of an ancient race who long ago came across the Kree in their primitive form and advanced them. They in turn came to this planet long ago and advanced the primitive life forms here. Into humans.”

“Show us your true form.” challenged Matt.

She morphed again. Pink-skinned, pointed eared, covered in short hair.

“You’re a Skrull.” Said Steve.

“That is correct.” She nodded. 

“How long have you been here on Earth?” Steve asked.

“Since 1933, as you know it.” She morphed back into Gao.

“What is your mission?”

“Nobu and the Kree.” 

“Are there Kree here on Earth?”

“No. Not presently on Earth. There was, however, a Kree ship in orbit recently.”

“There was? As in, they’ve gone?”

“Destroyed. By my weapon. In appearance, simply a car, really a laser weapon on wheels. We were testing it, driving it through Hell’s Kitchen one day when the proximity alarm went off. The laser was fired but was repelled back into the car, exploding it. It had, however, already done sufficient damage to destroy the Kree ship. It was an excellent test of the weapon’s ability. There was, however, a failure within the weapon’s destruction containment field. There should have been no collateral damage.”

“How is it no-one noticed a Kree ship exploding in space?”

“It was approaching orbit, but not low orbit. It was around about 500,000 miles out. Past your moon. A mere sparkle in the vast night sky.”

“Do you have more of these laser-cars?”

“Indeed. Two more in New York, one in Beijing, and one in Cairo.”

“Cairo? Why Cairo?”

“Despite all of their global expansion, the Hand have never shown any interest in the region. It provides safe haven.”

“What about Nobu? Do you know where he is?”

“He is in Tokyo. He reports back to the Kree using his portal there. He is there now- with the sarcophagus.”

“Elektra?” Matt exclaimed.

Gao nodded. “She is indeed still within it. But not for much longer. Days, at most.”

“I have to get to her. She’s their ultimate weapon, and if she comes out on their side, she’ll be a real threat. We need to get her away from them.”

“First, I believe there is something else I can assist you with. A problem you are yet to resolve.” She smiled knowingly.

“Which problem?” Matt asked.

“The Winter Soldier. You cannot break him free from his conditioning. I may be able to help.”

“Help how?”

“If you grant me access to him, you shall see.”

“Can we trust you? Why would you help us?” Steve was hesitant. After all, this was about Bucky. Could they really believe her claims?

“I revealed myself to you voluntarily. You still would not know I was here had I not done so. I have found myself to be in the position of being the lone guardian of this planet. It has been my home for the last eighty-three years, and I do not wish to witness it’s destruction. We need every soldier we can recruit to our cause, and he would make an excellent addition. As would Elektra.” She turned to Steve. “If you know of the Skrulls, and the Kree, then you know of the wars between us.”

Steve nodded. “I do.”

She morphed back into her true form, approached Steve, and took one of his hands in her own.

“Then I propose we join forces. Give me the chance to return Sergeant Barnes to you, and we shall face the Kree together.”

 

The sedative had worn off and once again he came to, still The Winter Soldier. In order to elicit maximum confusion and disorientation, she walked up to him appearing as himself. As he stared into his own face she morphed into Arnim Zola, his first Hydra captor. No words, just searching his mind for the right images, changing next into Vasily Karpov, then Alexander Pierce, and lastly Helmut Zemo. Reaching back through time she provided him with a link through the ether into the hearts of the men who had subdued him. He saw their immoral motivations, their evil desires. 

He writhed and grimaced in extreme discomfort, but her final face caused him to freeze. Steve Rogers. Vague recognition flitted across his face.

No such evil was in Steve. Only purity and selflessness. He recalled image after image of Steve, during WW2, with the Howling Commandos, flirting with Peggy Carter, walking into the Italian camp with the freed POWs, and later, fighting against him, but then dragging Steve out of the water at the very beginning of the breakdown of his conditioning. James Buchanan Barnes saw the light, and he knew what to do. 

“Freight Car. One. Homecoming. Benign. Nine. Furnace. Daybreak. Seventeen. Rusted. Longing.” With each word the Winter Soldier was fading, until he was gone. With a laugh of joy Bucky relaxed, no longer tensing against his restraints. It was finally over. He lifted his head and looked at Steve, and said “’Til the end of the line.”

He was free.


End file.
